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ApplePatent applicationAI & softwareInterest 6/10

Apple patents gesture controls for voice assistants

Apple has filed a patent for a system that uses physiological sensors to detect specific hand movements in the air. These gestures can trigger actions on a device only when a voice assistant is active and the hand is held in place for a set amount of time.

Why it mattersThis could make interacting with voice assistants more precise by allowing users to control them with hand movements rather than just speaking.

In the filing’s own words

A computer system detects a gesture, such as an air gesture, and performs an operation based on the gesture.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A computer system configured to communicate with one or more input devices that include a physiological sensor, comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: receiving, via the one or more input devices, an input related to a voice assistant; in response to receiving the input related to the voice assistant, outputting voice assistant data; detecting, via the physiological sensor, a respective air gesture; and in response to detecting the respective air gesture: in accordance with a determination that a set of one or more conditions is met, including a first condition that is met when the respective air gesture is detected while the voice assistant data is being output and a second condition that is met when the respective air gesture is detected for a threshold duration of time, performing an operation that corresponds to the respective air gesture; and in accordance with a determination that the set of one or more conditions is not met, forgoing performing the operation that corresponds to the respective air gesture.

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
USER INTERFACES FOR GESTURE DETECTION
Publication number
US20260277335A1
Application number
19677927
Filed
May 14, 2026
Published
Sep 17, 2026
Inventors
5
Claims
21

Classified under

G06F 3/017 Physics & computingG06F 3/015 Physics & computing

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.